This application claims benefit of Japanese Application No. 2000-124584 filed on Apr. 25, 2000, and No. 2001-070852 filed on Mar. 13, 2001, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera, and more particularly to a camera comprising means for covering an aperture portion and convex/concave portion formed at visible positions.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional camera for photography has various compartments to set and store various members at predetermined locations in a camera main body. The compartments to store various members here include:
a battery compartment for storing power supply batteries to drive various electronic circuits for photo taking,
a film cartridge compartment for storing a film cartridge where rolled film for photo taking is stored, and
a spool compartment, for storing an exposed part of rolled film drawn out of the film cartridge, which is rolled and stored maintaining a tight roll.
Of these members to be set and stored in various compartments, the above mentioned power supply battery and film cartridge are generally formed in roughly a cylindrical shape. The battery compartment and film cartridge compartment also normally have roughly a cylindrical shape, where the inner wall face has roughly a curved shape. The above mentioned film cartridge compartment is generally formed to have roughly a cylindrical shape, which is the optimum shape to house a rolled film.
A conventional camera, on the other hand, is normally structured such that the outside of the camera main body is covered with such outer members as a front side cover member and rear side cover member. And the various above mentioned compartments are formed by devising the internal shape of the camera main body and outer members.
FIG. 13 is an enlarged cross-sectional view depicting only the portion around the battery compartment in a conventional camera. As FIG. 13 shows, in a conventional camera 100, the walls 103a and 103b of the various compartments, such as film cartridge compartment 121 and battery compartment 109, are formed by devising the internal shape of the camera main body member 103 and the outer members (front side cover member 101, rear side cover member 102, back face cover member, etc.) so that predetermined spaces are formed. And on the inner wall faces of the various compartments formed in this way, various holes and convex/concave portions required for various functions, exist. To cover the various holes and convex/concave portions and to form an appearance for the inner wall faces of the compartments, a sheet member (protective sheet) 120 may be disposed along the inner wall faces. In this case, the sheet member (protective sheet) 120 is normally secured to the inner wall faces of the compartments by such means as gluing.
As FIG. 13 shows, various members such as a battery contact piece 106 are disposed in the battery compartment 109. The battery compartment 109 is formed so that the aperture thereof is freely opened and closed by the battery compartment cover 104. This battery compartment cover 104 is disposed on the side face of the camera 100, for example, and is disposed to be pivoted by the spindle 105 which is disposed so as to rotate in the arrow X direction in FIG. 13, with respect to the rear side cover member 102. By this, the battery compartment cover 104 opens/closes the aperture of the battery compartment 109, and when the cover 104 is in the closed position, the cover 104 constitutes a part of the battery compartment 109. The state shown in FIG. 13 is the state when the battery compartment cover 104 is at the open position where the battery compartment 109 is opened.
Various information may be indicated on the above mentioned conventional protective sheet 120. In other words, means of storing the member to be stored in a compartment, such as the insertion direction and type of battery, may be indicated in a predetermined visible format on the display section (not shown) by printing or some other means.
Such a conventional protective sheet 120 is formed by such means as coating glue on the back face, and the protective sheet is secured at a predetermined position in the compartment by the adhesive strength of the glue.
For a conventional camera, various means to implement additional functions have been proposed and commercialized, such as a means for recording information related to the photographed frame, character information on the date at that moment, for example, at a predetermined position on the film at the same time when a desired object image is photographed and exposed on film. At the same time, an inexpensive camera, where such various additional functions are omitted, is also demanded.
So in order to manufacture a camera with various additional functions and a camera without these additional functions, efforts to decrease the manufacturing cost have been made by making the basic structure of cameras common so as to share a camera main body and basic elements, including a photographing lens.
In this case, for the camera main body to be the base, a form where various additional functions can be included is manufactured, and a plurality of types of cameras are manufactured, depending on whether components related to various functions are installed or not.
If a camera without various additional functions is manufactured in this way, unnecessary holes are formed at positions where components, according to predetermined additional functions, are supposed to be installed. If such unnecessary holes exist, beams of light or dust may enter inside the camera main body, which may cause various problems. If an unnecessary hole is at a position which the user can see from the outside, the external design is affected.
Considering this, in a conventional camera which is manufactured with common members, the above mentioned unnecessary holes, which exist in the case of a camera where additional functions are omitted, are covered with the above mentioned sheet material or some other means, so as to prevent beams of light or dust from entering inside the camera main body, considering external design.
Here, a conventional camera with a date information printing mechanism to implement a function to record date information at a predetermined position on the film face interlocking with the exposure operation executed when a photo is taken will be considered.
FIG. 14 is a perspective view depicting a conventional camera which has a date information printing mechanism as an additional function viewed from the back face side of the camera. In FIG. 14, the back face cover member 110 of the camera is fully opened.
In this state, the film cartridge compartment 121, to set a film cartridge (not shown), the film compartment 131 with a spool shaft 132 which is pivoted so as to freely rotate, and the aperture section for photography 115 to guide the luminous flux from the photographing lens (not shown) to the film surface, is opened toward the back face side.
A pressure plate 111 is disposed at a predetermined position roughly near the center of the back face cover member 110 which faces the aperture for photographing 115 when the back face cover member 110 is closed. A predetermined date information printing mechanism (details not shown) is disposed in a space between the pressure plate 111 and the back face cover member 110. A date information printing section 112 is formed at a predetermined position of the pressure plate 111. A contact for communication 113 is disposed at a predetermined position in the back face cover member 110, and the contact section 113a is exposed outside.
A movable contact unit (not shown) is disposed near the top portion of the spool compartment 131 in the camera 100. This movable contact unit includes the contact 114 for communicating with the date information printing mechanism, which will be described later. This contact 114 is formed so as to be moved freely by the function of a predetermined elastic force, and is disposed so as to protrude from the aperture 114a, which is formed at a predetermined position of the camera main body member 103, in a normal state. The contact 114 of this movable contact unit is located at a predetermined position facing the contact for communication 113a disposed in the camera main body when the back face cover member 110 is closed.
When the back face cover member 110 is closed, the contact for communication 113 of the date information printing mechanism and the contact 114 of the movable contact unit of the camera main body member 103 side are electrically connected. By this, the date information printing mechanism disposed at the back face cover member 110 side can be controlled by the control means (not shown) disposed at the camera main body member 103 side.
On the top face of the camera 100, a pop-up type strobe unit 140 is disposed at a predetermined position close to one end, and at a predetermined position close to the other end, control members such as a shutter release button 142, which interlocks with the switch to generate a predetermined signal to execute the start of an operation related to photo taking, and a zoom lever 143, which interlocks with the switch to generate an instruction signal to execute a magnification power change operation of the photographing lens, are disposed.
If another type of camera which does not have a date information printing mechanism is manufactured using the camera main body member 103 and external members (front side cover member 101, rear side cover member 102, back face cover member 110, etc.), which are the basic components of a conventional camera 100 with the date information printing mechanism configured as above, the aperture 114a of the camera main body member 103 side is exposed since the contact 114 of the movable contact unit is exposed. So in this case, means for blocking the aperture 114a by using a sheet member secured by glue has been used conventionally.
The adhesive strength of the glue used for a conventional protective sheet, however, is so strong that it is very difficult to peel off the protective sheet once glued. So when the protective sheet is attached during the manufacturing process of a camera, if the protective sheet is glued at a position which deviates from the predetermined position, a new protective sheet is required because it is impossible to peel off and glue the same protective sheet again.
This increases the man-hours required for attaching the protective sheet, and the protective sheet is wasted since it cannot be reused once it is peeled off, which aggravates manufacturing efficiency and increases manufacturing cost.
Also in the case of conventional means for securing the protective sheet by glue, the protective sheet is wasted and cannot be reused once it is peeled off for maintenance, inspection or repair of the camera, and a new protective sheet is required.
Also in the various compartments of a standard camera, various members are normally disposed as shown in FIG. 13. In the battery compartment 109, for example, such members as positive electrode and negative electrode battery contacts 106 are disposed. If the protective sheet is attached on the inner wall face of the compartment by glue, the protective sheet must absolutely be glued at a predetermined position of the inner wall face of the compartment while avoiding interference with various members in the compartment. Such an operation, however, is very difficult, so efficient manufacturing is impossible and manufacturing cost increases.
With the foregoing in view, the present invention was made.
It is a first object of the present invention to provide a camera which includes a compartment to load and store various members and a predetermined sheet member (e.g. protective sheet) attached along the inner wall surface of the compartment, wherein the sheet material is attached by an extremely easy and inexpensive means at a predetermined position while assuring good operability during the assembly operation and disassembly operation of the camera, so as to provide a camera which contributes to making the manufacturing process efficient and decreases the manufacturing cost.
It is a second object of the present invention to provide a camera which has an aperture section at a visible position, where a sheet member (e.g. protective sheet) is attached so as to block the aperture section, wherein the sheet member can be attached at a predetermined position by an extremely easy and inexpensive means while assuring good operability during the assembly operation and the disassembly operation of the camera, so that the basic members of the camera can be shared without affecting external design, and the efficiency of the manufacturing process and the decrease of manufacturing cost can be implemented.
In accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, a camera includes a camera main body where an aperture section is formed at a visible position, and a sheet member for covering the aperture section so as to be easily attached/removed by elastic deformation without gluing.
In accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention, a camera includes a wall section whereby an inner face is formed to have a substantially curved surface, a sheet member which has elasticity and is attached so as to closely contact along the inner face of the wall section, and a holding section which is disposed on the inner face of the wall section and holds both ends of the sheet member against the resilience of the elastically deformed sheet member.
In accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention, a camera having a compartment for loading and storing members includes a wall section the inner face of which is formed to have a substantially curved surface to constitute the compartment, a sheet member which has elasticity and is attached so as to closely contact along the inner face of the wall section of the compartment, and a holding section which is disposed on the inner face of the wall section of the compartment, and holds the both ends of the sheet member against the resilience of the elastically deformed sheet member.
In accordance with a fourth embodiment of the present invention, a camera having a compartment for loading members includes a sheet member which has a resilience and constitutes a part (surface) exposed on the outside the inner wall face of the compartment by being attached on the inner wall face of the compartment, and a holding means which is disposed on the inner wall face of the compartment for holding both ends of the sheet member, wherein the sheet member is curled along the inner wall face, and the sheet member is attached and secured to the compartment by holding, and controlling the resilience generated by curling the sheet member using the above holding means.
In accordance with a fifth embodiment of the present invention, a camera having a compartment for loading members includes a camera main body where an aperture section or a convex/concave section is formed on the inner wall face of the compartment, a sheet member which has a resilience to return the curled state to the initial state and constitutes a part of the inner wall of the compartment by being attached to the inner wall face of the compartment so as to cover the aperture section or the convex/concave section, and two control holding members which are disposed on the inner wall face of the compartment respectively so as to correspond to both ends of the sheet member, and controls and holds the position of the sheet member by contacting both ends of the sheet member, wherein when the sheet member is curled and attached along the inner wall face, the sheet member is secured in the state of being curled in the compartment by controlling and holding the resilience generated by curling the sheet member, using the control holding member.
In accordance with a sixth embodiment of the present invention, a camera having a compartment for loading members includes a camera main body where an aperture section is formed on the inner wall face of the compartment, a sheet member which has a resilience to return the curled state to the initial state, and constitutes a part of the inner wall of the compartment by being attached to the inner wall face of the compartment so as to cover the aperture section, two control holding sections which are disposed on the inner wall face of the compartment respectively so as to correspond to the both ends of the sheet member and controls and holds the position of the sheet member by abutting on the both ends of the sheet member, and a receiving face section which is formed on the inner wall face of the compartment and between the two control holding sections for abutting on and receiving the face of the sheet member, wherein when the sheet member is curled and attached along the inner wall face, the sheet member is secured in the state of being curled in the compartment by controlling and holding the resilience generated by curling the sheet member using the control holding sections and the receiving face section.
The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent in the following description.
According to the present invention, in a camera having a compartment for setting and storing various members with a predetermined sheet member (e.g. protective sheet) attached along the inner wall face of the compartment, the sheet member is attached at a predetermined position by a very easy and inexpensive means while assuring good operability during the assembly operation and the disassembly operation of the camera, therefore a camera which can contribute to making the manufacturing process efficient and to decreasing the manufacturing cost can be provided.
Also according to the present invention, in a camera where an aperture section is formed at a visible position and the aperture section is blocked using the sheet member (e.g. protective sheet), the sheet member is attached at a predetermined position by a very easy and inexpensive means while assuring good operability during the assembly operation and the disassembly operation of the camera, therefore sharing the basic members of a camera can be implemented without affecting external design, and a camera which can contribute to making the manufacturing process efficient and to decreasing the manufacturing cost can be provided.